Vietnam Vagabonds, Part 2

Three weeks later, it has come time for us to say goodbye to Vietnam. We have come a long way from the rainy August day in Pagosa Springs, Colorado when we booked our flights to Southeast Asia. At the time it seemed so surreal; “are we really doing this?!”

Here we are, 6 months later, and it still seems so surreal!! I wonder if the fact that we are traveling through Asia on this completely life changing adventure, will ever actually set in.

We spent the second half of our time in Vietnam in Hoi An and Ha Noi. (In conversation, we mixed up the names of these two cities more times than we could count!)

Hoi An was a lovely quaint town near the coast. We stayed 15 minutes outside of town in a beachside bamboo bungalow (how is that for an alliteration?!). It has been the most unique place we have stayed thus far. It was quite rustic, with gaps in the thin bamboo walls and a much needed mosquito net over our bed. It was beautiful and best of all just a short walk to an awesome beach!!

We spent one day exploring the town of Hoi An, seeing temples and museums, the the quiet streets of an old French town. We ate some really yummy food on this day! A smoothie bowl and vegan pancakes for breakfast, and Banh mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwich) for lunch.

The next two days were spent lounging on the beach, swimming, reading, and listening to podcasts. Vietnam has been the craziest country we’ve been to so far, there are motorbikes everywhere, drivers constantly use their horn to signal to other drivers, and crossing the road feels like you are part of the game Frogger. Needless to say, a few days on the beach was just what we needed to decompress!

The most memorable part about Hoi An was when I locked myself in our room. Reid stayed on the beach and I went to our room to get more sunscreen. Our double doors closed on the inside and outside with a wooden latch. When I got inside our room, the wooden latch on the outside fell down and locked me in! I had to wait for someone to walk by, then I leaned out our window and called for help. I was quite embarrassed to say the least!!

We continued from Hoi An to Hanoi. We left early in the morning on one of the cheapest flights we will ever take. Our tickets were $3 each, and taxes and fees were $22. A $25 flight seemed much more appealing than taking a 17 hour bus ride!!

Hanoi is everything than Hoi An is not! It is crowded and busy, the rules of the road are nonexistent, and the sidewalks are used like parking lots so it is difficult to walk on them.

We took a few days to explore the sights of this sprawling city and a few days to explore other parts of northern Vietnam. One day we took a tour to Ninh Binh. This province felt like a dream! We climbed 500 stairs to reach the top of a small peak that over looked the river valley below. Then later we spent two hours on the river below, slowly rowing through the beautiful scenery, by temples, and through caves. It was an incredible day, we loved being in the countryside and slowing our pace down.

We spent another day exploring Halong Bay. This time of year the weather is typically cloudy, overcast, and chilly in this region of Vietnam. So we were overjoyed that we had a day that was 65° and sunny!!!

Our boat took us through the twists and turns of this beautiful bay, we had a sunny sky and the water was a stunning blueish-green color. We started at a cave that the French discovered when Vietnam was a colony. Sung Sot cave is over 100,000 square feet! It took us about 40 minutes to walk through all of it!

Then we went kayaking. Reid and I are an excellent tandem kayaking pair, and we had a lot of fun! We were able to explore a lagoon that only kayaks (and monkeys) can get to.

Our last stop in Halong Bay was Titop Island. We climbed about 400 stairs to get a panoramic view of the bay. We were exhausted, but it was totally worth it!!

A great part about Hanoi was that we got to meet up with one of my high school friends, Ryan. He has been living in Hanoi, teaching English at a high school, and working with a human rights organization. It was awesome to catch up with him!

As we leave Vietnam, we head for Laos (country #4!).

In our spare time, getting ready in the morning, and on bus trips we have started listening to Christian podcasts. We love the Elevation Church podcast, but if anyone has any suggestions, we are all ears!!

Love,

Sorrell

“Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” -Proverbs 24:14